Even When You're Miles Away
by Universe and U
Summary: 7x18 "Look, Santana, I just got a call from your aunt's girlfriend, Arizona. She told me that they were in an accident going out of town for the weekend. Now she, Arizona, is fine, but your aunt Callie isn't in good shape.." Song by KT Tunstall
1. Chapter 1

"Too many people! Get out!" Chief called - in a second, Avery, Cristina, Mark and Little Grey bolted out of the elevator to catch the stairs. There was no time to argue. If they were going to save Callie's life, all hands needed to be on deck and everyone needed to do what they could. While the residents all made out in a sprint to get to the operating room, Mark doubled back to be with Arizona. He couldn't be in the OR anyway.

"I asked her to marry me and… A truck came out of nowhere." Arizona kept muttering to herself. Her eyes looked like they stung and badly, at that. There were tears that needed to fall, but they didn't. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Arizona knew that, if Callie was in the same place, she wouldn't cry. She'd do something. She wouldn't just stand around.

"Let me get those gashes taken care of, Robbins." Mark sighed, pulling her away from the spot she seemed to be cemented to. He led her to an abandoned gurney and got her to climb up on it. "I see the ones on your face, but do you know if they're anywhere else?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

"They're going to get infected and I can stitch them up in no time. Let me take care of them."

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Robbins repeated, a little more agitated this time. "What I need is to get to the gallery. That's what I need. My head is fine and it will continue to be fine. But Callie, however, may not be. And the baby may not be. And while everyone in this freaking hospital is all-hands-on-deck, I can't be because that's the woman I love, the woman I'm in love with, and that takes away my ability to be objective. I can't think clearly when I'm staring at the broken body of the woman that I am in love with. So. Stop worrying about my head and the minor cuts that I have because I have a gallery to be sitting in. I need to be sitting in that gallery and I need to watch our friends fix the love of my life." Wiping a tear out of her eye, she slid off of the gurney and onto the tile floor where she crossed her arms over her chest and made her way to the elevator.

The gallery was empty; something to be expected seeing as Callie's case was an all-hands-on-deck kind of a case. From what Arizona could focus on in the trauma room, all specialties were involved, each trying to make their case more pressing than anyone else's. As she settled herself into one of the chairs in the gallery - front row, three chairs to the left so as to be able to see what was being done to her head - it dawned on her. Callie's family had no idea what had happened. And, while Callie and her father had once been very close, they weren't anymore. Not since Callie came out, so to speak. They called each other occasionally (not nearly as much as they used to) and her parents sent their traditional holiday cards with wishes for good health, progress with her career and a possible trip home.

There was only one person in her family that Calliope Torres remained close to and that was her niece, Santana. Callie was a freshman in college when her niece was born and, with being the youngest of the generation before Santana, the two acted more like sisters than anything else. They talked to each other every other day and Callie was always taking a sick day here or a weekend there to get out to Lima, Ohio to see her niece. Over Santana's school breaks, she would fly into Seattle and Callie would take even more time (minus having to come in for emergent cases) for the two to be able to spend together.

With all of this in mind, Arizona felt her pockets for her cell phone before realizing that her phone had been in a holster attached to Callie's dashboard so that the on-board bluetooth could work effectively - meaning her phone had been totaled in the wreck as well. One last glance at the operating room and Arizona knew they'd either be there forever, or Callie would be headed to the Intensive Care Unit in a matter of minutes. She took off out of the gallery, headed for Callie's locker to get a number to reach Santana.

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><p>"I'm really sorry to interrupt, but I need Santana." Will spoke softly to Santana's Algebra II teacher with an apologetic look. Looking to Santana, who sat next to Brittany in the back corner of the room, he closed his eyes for a brief second and wondered how the hell he was going to manage breaking this news to her. Of all of the faculty at McKinnley, he was glad that he could be the one to break the news to her, but this was the second time he'd had to deliver bad news.<p>

"Will she be back?" All Mr. Schue could do was shake his head and the old man barked at Santana to turn in her homework and take her stuff with her. From the look on Mr. Schue's face, there was reason for her to be panicked.

"Mr. Schue, what's going on? You look like someone just died." She snorted as she hoisted her backpack onto her shoulders. Silence as he led her down the hall, probably to Figgin's office. "What did I do?" More silence. Finally, she grabbed Will's shoulder and stopped him, turning his body toward her. "Mr. Schue, tell me what the hell is going on. Whatever I did, I don't think I deserve the cold shoulder like this." She crossed her arms over her chest and looked him up and down, waiting for an answer. "Especially not from you." All Will could do was put an arm around her shoulder and lead her to Emma's office. When Santana had a seat, Will leaned himself against Emma's desk and crossed his arms over his chest like he was about to shiver.

"Look, Santana, I - and by I, I mean Ms. Pillsbury - just got a call from your aunt's girlfriend. Arizona, I think her name was?" The look on Will's face worried Santana even more now that he'd mentioned Arizona. "She told me that they were in an accident going out of town for the weekend. Now she, Arizona, is fine, but your aunt Callie isn't in good shape.." he trailed off as Santana wiped a tear from her eye, eyeliner and mascara be damned.

"Did… Uh, did Arizona tell you what kind of shape she was in?" Santana asked with a sniffle and closed her eyes, physically bracing herself for the blow she was expecting. Her aunt was a strong woman, dammit. Calliope Torres was strong and the thought of her all broken and shattered from an accident… It didn't go over well in Santana's mind.

"She didn't give us the extent of the injuries, Santana." Emma chimed in. She pushed herself out of her desk chair and walked around to where Santana was sitting, visibly shaken. "Look, your mom is on her way to come and get you, but I don't know how long that will take so…"

"Can I call her? Arizona, can I call her back? I need to talk to her." A look to Will, who nodded, and Emma grabbed her entire phone and brought it closer to Santana.

"We'll be outside if you need us, and we'll come back and get you when your mom's here." At that point, Santana had already dialed and had the earpiece to her phone.

"I need to speak with Dr. Robbins, please…. Yes, I understand that she's not on duty, but I know that she is somewhere in that damned hospital… Fine. Don't page her. Page Dr. Sloan, then, I know he's there. Yeah, I'll hold."


	2. Chapter 2

Truth be told, Santana's mom didn't have the best relationship with Callie, and it got even rockier when Callie introduced her dad to Arizona and the idea that she liked girls. That piece of gossip got around the Torres/Lopez family at the speed of light, that's for sure. On one of her every-other-day phone calls with her aunt, Santana's mom had walked in and tried to make her hang up the phone. So the fact that Callie had now been in an accident didn't really phase Santana's mom; Mrs. Pillsbury-Howell, however, knew that this would be some earth-shattering news and insisted that Santana be taken home.

When the two of them got home, Mrs. Lopez pulled into the driveway and parked the car, holding off on unlocking the doors. "Santana, listen to me. I know that Calliope has been your friend for quite some time…"

"Mom, friend? _Really?_ Callie is my tía and I love her. She's closer to me than anyone else on your side of the family and, unlike all of you, I don't care if she's in a relationship with a woman." Slamming her hand onto the 'unlock' button, Santana stormed out of the car and wiped at her eye, once again, before running into the house, up the stairs and into her room. She felt like breaking something. Like taking a lamp or something made of glass and throwing it into the mocha-painted walls; a visual representation of her emotions. Instead, she scanned the room for her Cheerios gym bag and started to roll different pieces of clothing into balls and throw them into the bag. When she had clothes good enough for a week, she went to her dresser and started to throw different bottles and jars into the bag - shampoo, conditioner, various makeup containers, perfume, hair spray.

Once the gym bag could no longer hold anything else, she moved on to her school backpack. Once the zippers had been ripped open, she dumped the contents of the bag onto her already messed-up bed. This bag, too, was filled to the brim in a matter of minutes - a book to read, her laptop, any and all chargers, more cosmetics and pictures. Lots of pictures. Pictures of Santana and Callie at Callie's graduations - college, med school, her first day as a resident - pictures from competitions with the Cheerios that Callie had moved heaven and earth to be at, pictures of the two at family gatherings, and a picture of them both shoving cake in each others' faces at Santana's sweet 16. There wasn't any major event in Santana's life that Callie hadn't been there for. Callie was there for Santana's first day of school. _Always. _Callie was there for the entire week that Santana had been trying out for the Cheerios. She'd been there to help Santana get ready for things like homecoming, winter formal and had promised to be there to help her niece get ready to go to prom. If there was ever something that Callie couldn't physically be in Lima, Ohio for, she called. Constantly. That was more than Santana could say about anyone else in her family.

Once everything Santana could need in any circumstance had been packed, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and dialed Sam. He had been home sick that day and, therefore, had no reason to not answer.

"Hello?" He croaked and made a noise something akin to a cough.

"Sam, it's me. I need a huge favor, and as much as I'd like to be polite, I really don't have time for you to hesitate."

"Yeah, sure. What do you need?" His voice was nothing but a continuous croak, but Santana didn't really mind. As long as he was clear enough to drive.

"I need you to drive me to the airport."

"Wait, what? Why?"

She sighed and heaved her duffel bag onto her bed. "Look, I'll explain when we're on the road. But I need you to take me to the airport. Please?"

"Yeah, of course. I'll be there in a minute." He disconnected the call and Santana waited for the beautiful sound of his engine purring outside before grabbing both bags and bounding down the stairs. Distantly, she could hear her mother calling for her from her seat in the living room, but she didn't really care.

"Santana Jazmín Francesca Lopez! ¿Dónde diablos te crees que vas?" Her mother yelled as she ran up to Sam's car and threw her two bags to the back seat. "Santana!"

"I'm going to see my tía, Mom." She stated plainly and looked down for a second. "I know you and the rest of this family disapprove of her life and that, somehow, that means you stop caring. But I love her, and she's hurt. She could die. And, if she does, I'm not going to let my tía die without me being there to at least let her know that _I _love her. " With that, Santana was in the car and Sam took off, headed to Dayton International Airport - an hour away.

"It is! It is that simple!" Mark screamed, exasperated that he even needed to have this argument. Why should Arizona get to make calls about what to do about Callie's care? About _his_ baby's care? "We can have another baby, but we can't have another Callie!"

"So, what, you're going to screw my girlfriend again?"

"Oh, for God's sake, get over it! We screwed. Big deal."

"It _is, _Mark. It is a big deal." Arizona sighed and pushed her bangs back. Just as she was about to continue this _lovely _discussion with Mark about her girlfriend's care, her pager buzzed to pick up line 5. "Robbins." She somewhat barked into the receiver.

"Arizona? It's Santana."

"Hey, sweetie." She greeted and tried to put a smile on her face - that task definitely involved not looking anywhere near Mark. That bastard. "How are you holding up?"

"Uh, I'm doing okay, everything considered." Santana drew a deep breath before she could continue. "Listen, I need a favor. I know you're at the hospital, but…"

"But…?"

"I'm going to be landing at Seattle International in just a few hours, and I was wondering what you wanted me to do about getting from point A to point B, you know? Usually, Callie comes and gets me, but that's definitely not an option at this point…"

"Uhm, you're flying in? Your parents put you on a plane to come here?"

"Well, they didn't exactly put me on a plane, but yes, I'm flying in." Santana shifted awkwardly as a father with a stroller and a four year old walking with him made their way past her. "But I don't know if there's someone that can meet me or if it'd be easier for me to take a taxi or something…" Once again, she trailed off and felt a little awkward. Though she had gotten to know and really liked Arizona, she definitely did not completely grasp how deep the relationship between Callie and Santana was.

"Just give me your flight information and I will be there to pick you up. I'm not on duty anyways, so it won't be a problem. Let me get your information down, though…" Santana listed her flight/gate numbers, her departure time and her arrival time. "Okay, great. Call me back if it something happens and your times change, okay? Good, I'll see you in a couple of hours." They hung up and Arizona took in a deep sigh before returning to her spot in front of Callie's door.

"Who was that?" Mark asked, looking her up and down.

"Why do you care?" She retorted and shoved her hands in the pockets of her lab coat.

"Because I do. Who was it?"

"It was Santana, Mark. The one person in Callie's family that hasn't completely - or almost completely - shut her out. And if you knew Callie as well as you say you do, you would've known that, in an emergency, she is the one person that needs to be called. Aside from, you know, me." Mark nodded until he caught up with the last comment, when he turned to look at her. And so round three began.

Santana stirred awake at the stewardess' hand rested on her shoulder. "I'm sorry for waking you, but we're going to begin our descent in about five minutes; I need your tray to go up and your seat to return to its full upright position." A small nod and Santana began to do the things that the woman had asked her to do.

Once the plane made its descent and Santana was able to get both of her bags from the overhead storage compartments, she made her way through the crowd of people in the aisle and into the terminal. Her flight had been right on time, landing within five minutes of the arrival time stamped on her ticket.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: This story is my baby. I've been trying to run with this idea for a long time and then, out of nowhere, a friend (and a really big fan of both Grey's and Glee) was having a shitty week. So I started this story. And then it branched out. This story is going to be the first in a long series of Callie/Santana stories. So stay tuned :)**

**-Universe and U**

_Oh, and, as always, read and review!_

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><p>For some reason, Seattle International Airport had a hell of a lot more people than it usually did and they were all going a lot slower than Santana was trying to go . She found herself weaving through people, trying not to knock into anyone, but making her way toward the front doors where she hoped to find Arizona sooner rather than later so she could see her aunt already.<p>

Just as she passed baggage claim, Santana started to look out for a blonde head of hair - from there, she would be able to find Arizona easily. In the middle of an insane crowd of people, her cell phone started to ring; her phone started to vibrate, followed by Emma Stone's version of _Pocketful of Sunshine _from the movie _Easy A_. "Hello?" she answered.

"I think it's pretty safe to assume you're off the plane?"

"Yeah, I landed a few minutes ago. Where are you?" They spent a decent amount of time trying to find each other in the insane mess of people; Santana was starting to get impatient. Once they found each other, Santana could feel her eyes well up. Arizona's face had been all stitched and bandaged, all signs of the accident. Face-to-face with Arizona, Santana couldn't take it anymore. Her eyes stung horribly from having to hold back the tears and they all started to fall at once. Arizona pulled Santana into her arms and held her while Santana's tears landed on the old t-shirt Arizona had found in her locker.

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><p>"So, do you want to go by the apartment and set all of your stuff down, maybe take a shower and get something to eat?" Arizona asked Santana as they got in the car.<p>

"How's Callie doing?"

"Well, as of right now, she's in the Intensive Care Unit. She went into emergency surgery when she got to the hospital, but a lot of what they did was temporary. Temporary fixes to bleeders, that kind of thing. She's in the ICU so they can watch her overnight, and then they'll go from there." Arizona kept her hands tight on the steering wheel and her eyes straight ahead. "So how about we go by the apartment so you can set your stuff down and…"

"Is she awake?" Arizona froze and the silence was all the answer Santana needed. "I need to go see my tía. I don't really need a shower and my stuff can just stay in the car. I need to go see Callie." With a small nod and a whispered 'okay', Arizona pulled out of her parking space and drove to the hospital, both women in complete silence.

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><p>The second Arizona threw the car into 'park', Santana was out of the vehicle and running inside; there wasn't a damn thing Arizona or anyone else could've done to stop her. Once inside the automatic doors, she raced straight for the elevator - pushing the buttons, over and over again, and getting more furious as time went by definitely did not make the car come any faster than it normally did. The more she pushed the button, the slower time seemed to go by. When she'd finally had enough, Santana spun around to run to the stairs - only to be met head-on with Alex Karev.<p>

"Can I help you?" He asked, tilting his head a little to the side.

"I need to get up to the ICU to see my tía. If I could just get past you…" She trailed off and tried to go off to the right… Only to be caught by the arm.

"Not so fast." He eyed her for a minute before it finally clicked. "I recognize you. You belong to someone who works here, don't you?" She just stared at him blankly. _Is this guy really going to sit here and ponder who I belong to?_ A few more seconds and it finally came to him. "You're Torres' niece! The one she skips out on us for." Grabbing her arm, he pulled her into a just-vacated elevator car and pressed the button for the ICU floor.

"Weren't you just leaving? I can manage to find my tía, I promise." She rolled her eyes as she stood next to him in the elevator.

"Look, if Torres knew that I ran into her niece and let her run around this hospital, aimlessly looking for her, she would kick my ass and then have it handed to me." As the doors closed, Karev crossed his arms over his chest and looked her over. "I'll take you up there, it's not a problem. Joe will keep my drink for me just fine." As the elevator started to move and the floor number changed, Santana's eyes started to well up again. The higher in the building they got, the more her eyes started to sting with tears she hadn't let loose. Before they could get to the fourth floor, one floor away from the ICU, Santana let one tear escape, and then another and, before she knew it, she was on her knees, holding her stomach as she cried. Karev stopped the elevator car as soon as he saw her go down and was on his knees to help her up in a heartbeat.

"Hey, everything's going to be just fine, you know?" He muttered as his arms went around her seemingly fragile body to help her up. "We have the best people in the field looking after Torres. Addison is all over watching that baby and Shepherd's doing everything he can to make sure she doesn't turn into a vegetable and everyone else is kicking ass to make sure she and the baby are just fine." Pulling his arms a little tighter around Santana, he helped her to her feet. "I know you're scared, and I would be, too, if someone I was this close to got into a big accident. But, believe me, your aunt couldn't be in a better place than she is right now." Santana gave a weak nod as he kept an arm around her shoulder.

"It's just… She's my tía. I'm an only child. But Callie was always like a daughter to my mom and, thus, she's been like a sister to me. But the awesome older sister that I could tell anything to. That would bail me out of anything. I was the _first _person she told about Arizona in our family. I was the first person in the family she told that she was pregnant." _Deep breath, Santana. You don't need to cry again. "_She was the first person I ever told a lot of things to. And now she's been in an accident - while pregnant - and I… I can't help but think the worst." She wiped at her eyes before she leaned into the shoulder Alex had offered to her silently. "She's always been my best friend. My sister. And I need for her to be okay." Looking up at Alex with a tear in her eye, she sniffled before going on. "She is going to be okay, isn't she?"

Alex ran his other hand over his hair. "I'll be honest with you, kid. It's not really looking good. This truck did a number on her. But I can tell you that we are doing absolutely everything in our power to make sure that she's just fine. Addison flew up from LA to be able to take care of Torres and the baby. All of the other attendings are arguing over who gets to take care of her first." Alex took a deep breath and closed his eyes before looking back to Santana. "I promise you, we're doing everything we can. Torres is top priority for everyone in this hospital."

Santana gave a small nod and Alex turned the elevator back on. They were up to the ICU floor in no time and, before Santana could brace herself, she was in front of Callie's sliding glass door.


	4. Chapter 4

** Thank you to everyone who's reviewed, favorited this story (or me in general, for that matter) or who's been following along in general! I'm glad people appreciate the work I'm putting out :)**

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><p>Callie's chest rose and fell ever-so-slightly with the beeping of the machines that surrounded her. There was a tube coming from her mouth to yet another machine, no doubt helping her to be able to breathe, and her head was covered in gauze. Taking the sight in - her aunt, comatose and looking so helpless - made Santana feel like she was going to puke. The feeling got stronger, but Santana couldn't move to get something to get sick into. She gagged on her own breath, feeling her nausea get stronger, but she couldn't move to help herself.<p>

"Karev, grab something! She's going to be sick!" Mark called as he could see Santana walking the fine line between emptying the contents of her stomach and playing it off. She ended up going with the first option and did so right as Karev was able to put a container under her. As she hurled, Mark rubbed her back and Karev found a chair to let her sit down on. "You okay, Santana?" he asked as he continued to rub her back.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I just need to get in there and be with my tía. I… I need to be with Callie." Slowly getting to her feet, Santana made sure she had balance before she moved forward, sliding the glass door open - and then shut again behind her - and sat next to Callie's bedside.

Just as Santana sat down, Arizona came down the hall, taking position next to Alex. "So, someone helped her find Callie. That's good." She remarked with an over-exaggerated smile.

"I found her as she was trying to break the elevator button and helped her find her aunt. It wasn't a big deal," Alex chimed in and shrugged a little.

"She needed to be here," Mark nodded and turned to Arizona. "It was a good thing you did, calling her and letting her know what had happened." Arizona nodded and gave a small smile, half in acknowledgement and half in thanks. When the moment was over, she moved to grab the handle of the sliding glass door.

"Robbins, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Mark barked before Arizona could pull the door open

"What does it look like I'm doing? I'm going to sit next to my girlfriend. Is that a problem, Mark?" she turned around and eyed him from head to toe.

"Santana _just _got here. Give her some time alone with Torres. Trust me, she needs it." Mark sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. "I've known Santana since she was thirteen. I know how close they are. She needs time, alone, with Callie. Just… Leave her alone for a little while."

"Mark, that's Callie we're talking about. My girlfriend. The one I just proposed to -"

"Robbins, trust me, I know. She's the love of your life, you need to be with her at all times, yeah, whatever. I'm telling you, you need to give her niece some time alone with her! It's hard enough to be a teenager and see someone you love hooked up to every which machine, let alone needing to make small talk with that person's girlfriend!" At this point, Mark's voice was getting louder and louder with every other word.

"Look-"

Alex stepped between the two and shot them both cold stares. "Both of you need to go somewhere that isn't in front of Torres' door before I kick both of your asses!" He took a breath and pointed to Santana, "I think you both fail to realize that, while yes, Robbins is Torres' girlfriend and, yes, Sloan is the baby's father, that's Torres' niece in there. The only person in her family that she's still close to. If she was watching the both of you right now, she'd beat the living shit out of both of you!" Alex wrapped an arm around Arizona's shoulder and started to lead her away. "Now, both of you need to find something better to do with your time than to yell and bitch at each other in front of Torres' door before she wakes up and kicks both of your asses."

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><p>Santana pulled the chair that was in Callie's room closer to the bed and sat down, laying her hand next to her tía's. She didn't want to take hold of her hand - all of the wires and monitors had her scared that she would disconnect something - so being able to take hold of a few of Callie's fingers had to make due. Santana took a moment to fully ingest all of the damage that was done: Callie's head was bandaged, there were cuts (surely from the glass of the broken windshield) all over… It was all too much for Santana to take in all at once.<p>

"Tía, what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into now?" Santana asked as she grabbed hold of the tips of Callie's fingers. "I know you can't respond, but they say that, if you talk to someone who's in a coma or whatever, that they can still hear you. And that it… Uh… Helps, in some way." She closed her eyes and sniffled quietly. "Arizona called me and… and told me that you had been in an accident. Well, actually, she called Emma - Ms. Pillsbury - counsellor you think is cute. I think Arizona's learned from your mistakes of calling my phone in the middle of class and getting me in trouble because she went straight for calling the school."

"I'm not - I'm not going anywhere. I'm not leaving until I know for a fact that you and the baby are 100% okay. My mom and dad can be as mad at me as they want, but it won't change the fact that I need to be here. I need to be here with you." Just as a tear fell from Santana's eye, the machines started to beep irregularly and hospital staff stormed the room - forcing her out of her chair and against the wall.

"Tía… Tía…" Santana kept calling out, trying to peer over the shoulders of the nurses and doctors she didn't know. "Callie!" She screamed one more time before bursting into tears. "Tía… I swear to god, if you die on me now… Hija de su! Por que! Por que chingados ahora! Tu eres mas fuerte que esto!" _[Daughter of a-! Why? Why the hell now? You're stronger than this!]_

They were yelling out different pieces of medical jargon and all Santana could do was stand against the wall and watch them work - praying that they weren't going to lose her tía. This was the kind of moment that made Callie resent going into medicine - the uncertainty of having to work against the clock, as well as the patient's body as it tried to shut down. Callie would call Santana, in the middle of the night, after being on a team that lost a patient. This was that kind of a moment.

The team of on-call doctors and nurses continued to yell at each other and keep Santana as far from being able to see her aunt as possible. It was no longer an option to be able to try and tip-toe a peek above their heads - they were so huddled together and so focused that that wasn't even an option. At that realization, Santana gave in to the burning in her legs and slid to the ground, holding her knees to her chest.

As the voices of the medical team became more and more panicked, Santana could feel herself being pulled up off of the floor and out of the sliding glass door. "You didn't need to be in there, kid. Trust me." Alex's voice was gruff and she gave him a thankful smile. "Are you hungry? I could take you to go get something to eat, if you want. And it doesn't have to be hospital food."

"Uhh…" Santana looked back to her the team surrounding her tía and hesitated to answer.

"I'll have them call me if something changes. Promise." She was still hesitant. If anything happened while she was eating and Callie had to go back into surgery, she'd never be able to forgive herself. "Look. You've been thrown through so many different loops today, I still can't wrap my head around it. This morning, you were in school - in Ohio - and everything was fine. Hours later, you're in Seattle and your aunt is barely holding on. Chances are, you haven't eaten." Santana shot him a questioning look. "I know patients. And I know kids."

"You promise you'll have them call you if _anything_ changes?"

"I promise." With one last look into the ICU room, Santana nodded and followed Alex to the elevators.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: **Good afternoon, lovelies! I'm really sorry that I've been lacking in the update-department. When I started posting this story, I was on Spring Break and... Well, then I wasn't. But, never fear, chapter 5 is here! I was actually suspended from school this week (but that's a really long, ugly story), which gave me time to finish writing this and, now, get it posted.

If all goes well, chapter 6 should be up this week, but no promises.

Read and Review!

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><p>After getting down to the ground floor of the hospital and walking into the parking lot, Alex realized that the best place to take her was right across the street; yes, Joe served real food alongside his booze. With his arm around her shoulder, making sure she would stay up, the two crossed the street in front of the hospital and made their way down into Joe's. The whole way, Santana shook. Not from the cold, but from the sound of the machines beeping and flatlining in her head. The sound of a loud "CODE BLUE!" coming from the nurses station. The feeling of being lifted from the chair she'd been in and being sent against the wall so the doctors could work to save Callie's life. That's what made her shake and Alex knew it.<p>

As soon as they walked into the bar and Alex led her to a table, Joe came over and gave a small chuckle, "Karev, isn't she a little young for you?" If looks could kill, the one Alex shot him would've had him six feet under in two seconds flat.

"I'm not dating her, you perv." He growled and sat down in his own seat. "This is Santana, Callie's niece. Santana, this is Joe, our nosy bartender." Looking from Santana to Joe, Alex handed his menu back. "How about… Two Cokes?" Karev looked to Santana to approve this, which she did with a small nod. "And a bowl of chips or something that's not peanuts." After writing it all down, Joe reached across the table and felt Alex's forehead, followed by his cheeks. "Man, what the hell are you doing?"

"I'm trying to see if you're sick or something." Joe muttered before putting a hand back in his pocket. "I've known you for seven years and you've never ordered a Coke."

"Yeah, well.. I'm still technically on duty, so…" Alex shrugged and Joe nodded before walking back behind the bar to get their order going. "See, I told you. He's nosy."

"Hey, imagine living in Ohio. Nothing stays quiet. Ever." Santana's voice was barely a whisper and she didn't make a whole lot of eye contact. "What is this place?"

"This is Joe's. I've been coming here since before I started as an intern at the hospital. Pretty much, this place is empty until a shift's over and then it's packed." As Joe put their drinks on the table in front of them, Santana gave him a small smile and let her eyes fall back on the table. "So, your parents put you on a plane to come out here when they found out about Torres?"

"I wouldn't really say that." She took a sip and took a deep breath. "I kind of put myself on a plane."

Wide eyed, Alex put his drink down and looked at her for a moment. "You put yourself on a plane? What are you, sixteen?"

"I'm seventeen, thanks." Santana retorted with a dirty look in Alex's direction. "Arizona called my school counselor and told her what happened. I got pulled out of class so she could tell me. My mom came and picked me up from school because I was a wreck… Well, more because the counselor told her that I shouldn't stay at school… Considering how I reacted about it."

Alex swirled his straw around his glass and looked around the vacated bar. "So, you and Torres are pretty close, huh?"

"Pretty close? I think that's the biggest understatement I've ever heard." Santana looked straight at Alex and continued to let her hands fidget idly. "Callie was a freshman in college when I was born so it wasn't like she acted like she was my mom… We've always acted like sisters, I guess. She's the baby of her generation of cousins and I'm the baby of mine so it's always worked out." She gave a small shrug of her shoulders, "She's always looked after me. Callie's my tía. When my mom and I have fought or anything like that, she's either come and gotten me or she's paid for me to fly to where ever she was. She understands me… She's my tía." And then… Silence.

The silence got awkward as Santana's stomach let out a loud gurgle - it had easily been 24 hours since she had put anything in her stomach and Joe hadn't brought anything for them to snack on. Despite her angry stomach, the only thing she could focus on was the fact that her pregnant tía was laying in the ICU just across the street, unable to breathe on her own and, as far as Santana knew, unconscious. "Look, Santana, I know that you're probably thinking worst-case scenario about your aunt…"

"Damn right I am," Santana muttered, her voice low and cold. Alex seemed like a good guy, but the one thing that Santana Lopez did not let people do is feel sorry for her.

"I know Torres and she would not want you to sit here, worrying about the worst-case scenario. She's strong, Santana. She's strong and every person in that hospital is working their asses off to keep her and that baby alive." _Deep breath, Alex. You need to calm down. You getting upset isn't going to do anything. _"I know how hard it is to think positive. I remember how hard it is. But you need to. If you need a reason to try, think about Torres and that baby."

"Wait.. You remember?" Santana asked with a cocked eyebrow.

He gave a single nod. "Yeah, I remember." Alex's voice was barely more than a whisper as he tried to swallow the knot at the back of his throat. "Uhh.. My uncle and I were a little less than a year apart in age. We were more like best friends and we called each other cousins because that just made more sense. 'Cause, you know, our idea of an uncle was the old fat guy that got drunk on holidays and stuff… But, needless to say, he and I were close just like you and Torres are close. We were like brothers."

"One day, we were coming home from school, just like any other day, and these kids that were like two years older than me come up to us and start giving me a hard time. That I was weak and needed my _big, scary _cousin to save my ass and that I couldn't fight for myself." Alex wrung his hands together and met Santana's eyes. "As soon as they started throwing punches, James got in there and started swinging back. The guys that came after me were about 14, James was 13 and I was a wimpy 12 year old. I ended up getting knocked to the ground. I didn't get more than a few punches in. And then, before I knew it, the boys ran away. They were screaming things like 'Oh shit!' 'I didn't throw that hit, you did!' as they ran and, when I looked up from where I'd fallen, James was on the concrete and he was bleeding from the side of his head. So I get someone to call the paramedics and he gets taken to the hospital and I just sat there, wondering when he was going to die. If he was going to be in any pain when he… You know, left." Alex took a sip of the drink in front of him and sighed. "So yeah, I know how you're feeling. Even though you weren't part of the accident, I know how you must be feeling."

The story left Santana speechless. She could only bring herself to stir her straw around the ice that was left in her cup. "That… That's… Wow, Alex. I'm really sorry."

He shrugged and wrapped both of his hands around his cup, "It was a long time ago. I've moved on…. But this, with Torres, I can really only imagine how bad it's tearing you apart. And I promise we're doing everything to take care of her and the baby."

"No, I know you are. It's just… It's hard to be the one sitting here, not knowing what to do about anything. You guys know your medicine and you know what's going on and I get shoved to the wall of the room." She managed to choke out. Just as Alex was about to continue, his pager went off from inside his pocket. He fished the device from the pocket of the jeans he was wearing and hit a couple of buttons to be able to read it.

As Karev stood up, Santana stood as well. "I know you must be starving, but they're paging about Torres. I assume you want to come with?"

"Of course I do. Do you know if something's wrong or…"

"I don't know why they're paging, but they need me and that's all I know." He threw a 20 dollar bill on the table, waved to Joe and held the door open for Santana. The two of them sprinted back into the parking lot of Seattle Grace Mercy West and through the automatic glass doors, back in front of the elevators, where they had met just a few hours ago.


	6. Chapter 6

**AN:** CHAPTER SIX! ...I'd have more to say if it wasn't three in the morning.

Read and review :)

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><p>When they stepped out of the elevator, Santana could hear Mark and Arizona going at it - again. "A baby born at twenty-three weeks risks encephalopathy, ROP, cerebral palsy, it will develop mental-" She could hear Arizona nearly screaming in front of Callie's isolated room in the ICU.<p>

"I know the risks!" Mark called back, putting a hand in the pocket of his scrubs. This, too, would be a long fight. Something that Callie would slap the both of them for.

"No, do you? Because you're acting like you don't care about the baby!" Alex tried to hold Santana away from the fight, but was unsuccessful. She walked up directly behind Mark and waited for either of them to notice she was there.

"I'm thinking about Callie. You don't think I care? This is my baby!"

"You're not being rational." Arizona was beginning to talk to Mark as if she was talking to one of the makers of the tiny humans over in pediatrics, something that Mark wasn't going to take and Santana knew it.

"Oh, you never wanted this! You didn't ask for it, why the hell are you giving us some opinion on what you think-"

"No, no, no! You know what I didn't ask for? I didn't ask for you, Mark!" Arizona yelled as Santana walked right up behind Mark, apparently unnoticed by either adult. "You know what you are? You're basically a sperm donor! Because this is me and this is Callie and we're together. And so I say-"

"Both of you just shut up!" Alex stepped between the two adults, forcing each of them back a step. "You need to shut the fuck up because while you're out here bickering over who gets to decide what happens to Callie and to this kid, you're forgetting two very important things. First, as you're sitting here bitching at each other for not seeing the other person's point of view, did you ever consider that Santana might have some say? Second, you two sitting out here bitching is making it harder for those of us trying to save Torres!" He took a deep breath and looked from Mark to Arizona before pointing to Santana.

"Now. Torres's niece is right behind you and you both know pretty damn well that Torres would kick both of your asses -" Alex stopped as he turned around and saw that Santana wasn't actually behind him; she had slipped away from the fighting adults and back into the seat she was in before Callie scared everyone on the floor, taking her tía's hand again. "Or maybe she slipped in to be with Torres. That could've happened, too." Alex shrugged and closed the sliding glass door.

* * *

><p>"You scared me before, you know? You can't just make all of these machines go off when I'm already scared shitless, Tía." Santana whispered and stroked her hand. "I mean, I already left the house without so much as two words to Mom. God, the look on her face… I would give it <em>at least<em> ten points. Maybe even twenty."

With a deep sigh, Santana closed her eyes and squeezed her tía's hand tight. "You really scared me, Tía. Mr. Schue was the one that pulled me out of class and told me that you'd been hurt… I would've rather had my heart ripped out of my chest. Sam - the blonde Justin Bieber knock-off - took me to the airport. The whole time….. I just sat and I shook." She swallowed a big lump in her throat. "Next time you want me to come out here, how about you just give me a call or something, huh?" Her laugh was a little bittersweet and she laced her fingers with her tía's.

"Look, Callie… Please… Just, wake up, okay? You need to wake up. I need you, your baby needs you, Mark and Arizona need you.. Even if they've been fighting a lot. We all need you." With her free hand, Santana wiped a tear that was threatening to run down her face. "I need you to stay with me. You need to raise this baby to be as strong as you are, as caring as you are, as badass as you are… You're not done here." Silently, Santana choked on the sobs that, ultimately, crashed through her body like tidal waves. One after another.

* * *

><p>"You should make peace, Mark," Addison scolded as she came out of Callie's ICU room, making marks on the thick chart. As she took Callie's vitals - it was her turn, finally - and checked the baby, she saw Santana sleeping on a small, unoccupied portion of her tía's bed and covered her with a blanket that had been on a cart in the room. "You both love Callie and you both love Santana - I think you a little more than Arizona, but regardless. You both love those girls and you both want what's best for <strong>your<strong> child, Mark. Whatever fight you want to pick with Arizona, knock it off."

"There's nothing left to say. She thinks I'm nothing but a sperm donor, so-"

"And we all know that that's a load of shit." She spit back as she slammed the chart closed. "Mark, you love Callie. I don't know if you still love her romantically or because she's the mother of your child or your best friend… Point is, you love her. And you love Santana; mainly because she means so much to Callie." Taking a deep breath, Addison grabbed Mark's hand. "Callie, Santana and that baby, they're your family and you know it. With that being said, you're going to find Arizona, you will make peace, no matter what that looks like, and you're going to focus on getting Callie better and through this."

"But what if-"

"She proposed to Callie. They're getting married." Addison gave him a pointed look. "Do you really want to 'but what if' me?" Before Mark could answer, he was cut off by the sounds of dangerously slow beeps coming from Callie's monitors, followed by a team of on call doctors and nurses rushing into the room.

"Her pressure's bottoming out," Arizona muttered as she came into the room and studied the scene. Bailey reported that her lungs were filling with liquid while Addison found her abdomen was also filling with liquid, putting the baby was in distress. As Alex got to the scene, all he could see was Santana, just waking up and moving out of the way of the medical team trying to get Callie into emergency surgery - again. As Callie was rolled down the hallway to the operating room, Alex led her the other way, which took a second for her to realze.

"Callie went the other way. Why are we…?" Santana looked at Alex as he pushed her down the hallway and into an on-call room.

"Because you're obviously exhausted and they're working on Torres anyway, so you can sleep and I'll wake you up the second I hear anything about her." Alex mumbled as he pushed her into the room and threw an extra blanket at her.

"And what are you going to do while I sleep? Work? Be in surgery with Callie?" She gave him an expectant look as she fell onto the bottom bunk closest to the door.

"I'm going to sit _here_," he emphasized as he pulled up a chair and sat next to the bed she was on, "and not sleep." With that, Alex was camped out in the on-call room, where he played Angry Birds on his cell phone while letting Santana sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

_After standing at the chalk bowl for twenty minutes, Santana was fed up. It was as if all of her coaches decided that she didn't need to train that afternoon. Alan was spotting Dani on the beam, Sam was being trained for a new move on the floor with the harness, so she had two spotters and their other coach was out sick. This left eight year old Santana in front of the chalk bowl, with nothing to do but watch longingly. It took about thirty more seconds of waiting for someone to come over and spot her that the little girl had had enough and decided she didn't need anyone to spot her. She pulled the spring board to where she needed it to be and, without any warning, bounced off of it and launched herself onto the bars, without anyone to spot her._

_For most of the routine, she was going great. She nailed the release from the tall bar to the short bar and vice versa, she kept her ankles together (for the most part, but she didn't dwell on it) and it was time for her to release to the tall bar before flipping into the landing she'd been sticking for weeks. As she saw someone move in the corner of her eye, her nerves got the best of her; she released to the tall bar, twisting in the air, but didn't catch the short bar. The next thing she knew, her shoulder ground into the mat, the rest of her body flopping the opposite direction._

_"Mijita!" She could hear her abuelito calling as he and Callie rushed to the mat. "Baby, are you okay?"_

_"Yeah, I'm fine," she muttered as she tried to push herself off of the ground, only to fall flat on her back because it hurt so much._

_"Kiddo, you need to not move, it's going to hurt and it's going to hurt bad." Callie took the little girl's other hand and pulled out her cell phone to call for paramedics. "But I'm going to take you to the hospital and it's all going to be okay." Her tía held her in place as she dialed 911 and was able to get an ambulance coming from the hospital she was doing her internship with._

_By the time the ambulance pulled into the trauma bay at the University of Miami, Santana was screaming in pain; the adrenaline from her routine had run dry and now all she could feel was intense, burning pain coming from her left shoulder. "Tia, it hurts!" Santana groaned, through clenched teeth. The EMTs that had loaded her into the dropped the wheels of her gurney onto the pavement and rolled her into the emergency room._

_"I know it does, mijita, and we're gonna make it all better." Callie whispered as the EMTs rolled the gurney into a trauma room and transferred her to a hospital bed. By the time the paramedics could walk out, Callie's resident and the orthopedic attending walked into the room._

_"Torres, what do we have?" Her resident asked while reading over what information was in the chart._

_"Eight year old girl, dislocation of the scapula, with damage to the clavicle and the humerus. She was doing a gymnastics routine on the uneven bars and didn't catch the short bar as she transferred. All of her body weight fell on her shoulder when she hit the mat." As the attending listened, he nodded and told Torres that she needed to pop the bone back into place, sling it and get Santana on medication. Her resident was ordered to supervise and step in if it became necessary. Without anything further, the attending walked out and it was just Callie, her resident and a nurse._

_"Alright, San. I need you to talk to me, okay? Tell me how the routine was supposed to end, okay?" Her tia asked as she moved to sit behind the girl._

_"Well, when I fell, I-I was overshooting, which is… when I take off from the top bar at the bottom of the swing and layout with a half turn before I'm supposed to catch the bottom -"_

* * *

><p>Santana shot out of bed as, in her dream, Callie snapped her shoulder back into place. Her body was covered in a cold sweat and her breath was heavy. When she looked around the on-call room that Alex had made her sleep in, the room was completely dark except for the backlight of Mark's iPod.<p>

Mark looked her way and smiled softly, moving from the chair he was posted in to be able to sit beside her on the bottom bunk. "Hey, sorry if my iPod woke you up. Everyone in this damn hospital plays this ridiculous game - Angry Birds - and now they've got me hooked on it." Santana rubbed her eyes and shrugged it off. "Good news is, you got a about an hour of sleep. It's not much, but it's more than I've gotten at one time in a long time, kiddo."

"Yeah, that's good, I guess." Santana nodded and swallowed a little bit. "How's Callie? How's the baby? Did I miss anything?"

"I haven't gotten a report yet. I traded Karev because Addison needed him to help monitor the baby." He rubbed her back softly as she leaned into him and closed her eyes again. The thing that shocked her is that she had slept for an entire hour - More than she had gotten since Will had pulled her out of class. "I know it's not much, but do you want a cup of coffee? I was about to go get some before you woke up…"

"Uh, yeah, sure." She nodded and Mark got up, pulling his wallet out of the pocket of his navy blue scrubs. "I still drink what she drinks." Santana said softly and all Mark could do was nod. As he left the room, Santana dug into her pocket and found her cell phone, which had completely blown up in the time that she'd been in Seattle. Most of the notifications she had missed were from her best friend, Brittany. Closing the missed calls, Santana looked at the clock: 4 AM in Seattle… That had to be like 6 or 7 in Ohio, right?

Before she knew what she was doing, Santana had hit the dialog to call Brittany back. She had to have just been getting out of Cheerios practice, with time to kill before her first period. If she was wrong and she was still in practice, Coach Sylvester would have her head when she returned to McKinley.

"Santana! I haven't heard from you since Mr. Shuester pulled you out of class yesterday and your mom didn't know where you went… Where are you?"

With a deep breath, Santana tried to not collapse into the crying mess that she wanted to turn into. "I'm in Seattle, Britt."

"Seattle… With your aunt?"

"Yeah, with my aunt. She was in a really bad accident yesterday - or maybe it was the day before, I'm not exactly sure. She's been in and out of emergency surgery since I got here."

"Oh my god, Santana, I'm so sorry…"

Another deep breath. "It's not your fault. Her car met, face to face, with a big rig. They say she and the baby are okay, but I won't know much until they're out of this surgery."

"Do you know when they might get out of-" Santana zoned out on her conversation with Brittany as Meredith popped in the door of the on-call room.

"Sorry, I didn't know you were - you might want to come to the operating room." She sighed and motioned for the girl to follow her. In an instant, Santana's heart dropped. Was this good news? What if it was…. Bad news? What would she do then? Santana ended the call and shoved the phone into her pocket as Meredith opened the doorway to the operating room and a nurse met her with a mask and a gown. To her right, Callie's abdomen was still wide open on the surgeons' table and Santana's knees began to give way. Mark grabbed her arm and pulled her to the left, where Arizona was resuscitating an incredibly tiny, fragile-looking baby.

Arizona looked up from the table and smiled at Santana. "Wanna come say hi to your cousin? I'm sure she'd love to meet you." As she moved closer, Santana wiped a tear from her eye and put her finger close to the baby's.

"She's not my cousin. She's my niece."


End file.
